A We-We Brochure is a Sales Killer

Monday, March 12, 2012

By Wendy Batara, Marketing Program Manager, Modern Postcard

4 tips that will motivate people to read your brochure

Marketing isn't about using just one medium to spread the word about your business. It's about getting customers and keeping them. While Internet marketing can help, it should be used in conjunction with other tactical tools such as the underutilized and often ignored powerhouse — the sales brochure.

Sadly, this powerful tool often tends to speak only about the company and features of their products or services instead of focusing on the customer benefits. Most brochures simply say: This is who we are and what we do. This is how we do it. This is what our customers say about us. This is how long we've been doing it for (yawn). Here's how you can get a hold of us. Sound familiar?

Sure, your brochure needs to give potential customers information about your products and services. But, it should also highlight the primary benefits customers gain from them. In fact, benefits should be the first piece of information the reader sees. Benefits can influence readers to not only dive deeper into the brochure, but provide the solution to a pain point and motivate them to contact you.

Here are 4 tips for creating a useful, sales-driving brochure:

Motivate readers to look insidePretend for a moment you’re the reader, not the writer. Look at the content as objectively as you can. The first thing your reader will see is the front. What would make you open the brochure and read on?

Don't settle on just your company logo or images of products, which may not be enough to pull readers in. Think benefits and thought-provoking statements that motivate the reader to open your brochure. Ask a question or tell them something they don’t know. Intrigue them by adding a callout that tells the reader there's something inside that will interest them – an exclusive report, a special offer for first time customers, or how about a new feature on an old product.

Make it an easy readIf you were to skim over your brochure, would you get the gist of the message? Is the information broken up into manageable chunks, or are you looking at a sea of text? Does it discourage you from reading on or encourage you to commit the time to read more?

It only takes a second for readers to decide to keep your brochure or dump it – so be sure the content is easy to digest. Use headings, boxes or bullets to organize content and leave plenty of white space. Place content in logical order and in bite-sized pieces to help move your reader along through the brochure.

Typically, businesses use the classic Tri-fold Brochure. If you can’t fit everything into one brochure consider sizing up to a larger format like our Folded Catalog Sheet, Double Sumo or a Booklet. Maybe you’ll find that it makes sense to split up the information into two brochures – a product brochure and a service brochure, or one brochure for each product you offer. Whatever format you decide is best, be sure people will want to read it and can get through it with ease.

Balance text with graphicsA picture speaks a thousand words – heard of this saying before? With brochures, graphics and photos will help reinforce your message without having to write an entire paragraph about it. It’s important that you use images that are relevant to the point you want to get across. Don’t throw in a generic image just because it’s pretty and colorful.

If you are talking about a specific product, include a picture of it or a shot of someone using it. Do you offer free delivery to everyone in a specific neighborhood or city? Then include a map. Does a product come with complicated specifications or multiple features? Then add a diagram or three dimensional view of the product with bullets calling out each feature. Pictures make it easy for readers to quickly absorb the information you are trying to get across without having to skim through a thousand words about it.

Include a call to actionNow that you’ve managed to engage readers, don’t end the story without telling them exactly what you want them to do next. Would you ever dream of a sales rep saying, “Hey, thanks for hearing what I have to say – here’s my number in case you need it.” Well believe it or not, I’ve seen many brochures do just that. You need to think of your brochure as sales rep on paper – so make it sell.

Tell readers what to do next – call for an appointment or free consultation, go to our website and watch a demo, call now to cash in on special savings. You get the picture. Sure, including a call to action may not make every single reader take action, but leaving it off is a definite sales killer.

Looking for design ideas and inspiration for your brochure or other print materials? Check out our collection of Customer Design Examples and see what products our clients use to create quality marketing tools that deliver results. Feel free to request printed samples too!

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